Parker holding his own on the track

When baseball season ended in the first week of July, Merced High School sophomore Cody Parker began to focus on his fall sport. Parker, 15, traded the dirt diamond for a clay oval, and won his first stock car race at Merced Speedway on Sunday.

“I’ll race into the fall and then winter training season will begin for baseball,” said Parker, who will play varsity ball next year.

He is already playing varsity at the speedway, where he races against men and women his dad’s age. Parker looked stunned when he raised the trophy to the crowd after beating two of the winningest drivers in the Hobby Stock division – Kristie Shearer and Kevin Joaquin.

Sonora’s Joaquin, a high school student himself when he made his mark in the division last season, told Parker he drove a great line – both in his qualifying race and in the feature event. Shearer showed more excitement for Parker’s win than Parker himself.

“What Kristie and Kevin said meant a lot to me, and it means even more now, after everything has sunken in,” Parker said. “When I saw Kevin go to the back of the field, I felt there was a chance for me to win. I just drove to win – I didn’t know who was behind me, how good of a driver or how good of a car.”

That person was schoolteacher Shearer from Los Banos.

“You drove solid Cody,” she said to Parker in victory lane. “I knew you could win!”

The old Camaro Parker drove to victory was no stranger to Merced Speedway. Locals estimate it had 150-200 races before it was put out to pasture in a Merced field.

“We kept driving by it and talking about it. Finally, one day we pulled it out of that field,” explained Parker.

His dad, Ed, bought the car for him.

“It took a year and a half to get it running right,” Parker added. “We worked on every part of the car. We never touched the paint, though, – it has its original body, red paint and Jack Chapman’s No. 33 on the sides.”

But, after this season, the old car will carry the Parker colors and have 28 on the doors, which was Ed Parker’s number at the speedway in the past.

“My dad gives me whole lists of things to do on the car during the week,” Parker, an only child, explains. “Sure, my parents spoil me at times, but I work to race.”

His mother, Patricia, was a softball player and his father played football in high school. He was also a race driver and race car owner.

Most recently it was Tim Ragsdale who sat behind the wheel of Ed Parker’s cars. He is still part of his team, as are his sons. Parker’s crew is comprised of 15-year-old Chad Ragsdale and Teddy Ragsdale, 13. Ed Parker is the crew chief, and he is assisted by his former driver, Tim Ragsdale.

Cody Parker aspires to be a NASCAR driver.

“I’ll probably be heading for college,” he said. “But If I could head to NASCAR, that would be great.”

Last week – When Kyle Wilson of Salinas jumped out in front of Merced’s Dereck Colvin in the International Motor Contest Association modified stock car main event Sunday night at Merced Speedway, he knew he had his hands full.

“Colvin was fast, and there were even faster cars behind me,” Wilson explained. “I had to get ahead of him and keep going.”

Stars traded places behind Wilson for the rest of the feature. First, his twin brother Alex challenged him. Then, Colvin fought to keep his turf from Paul Stone of Winton. In the meantime, visitor Troy Foulger from Martinez was picking off the competition one at a time.

As Foulger passed Alex Wilson for second, Colvin slid into third behind him. Wilson was moved to fourth, and Mariposa’s Ricky Thatcher nailed down fifth as the top five finished in close proximity.

The IMCA SportMod feature had the makings of a prize bout, and local hero Bruce “Bubba” Nelson thrilled the crowd as he went 10 rounds to win the decision over Brentwood’s “Fast Freddy” Ryland.

Nelson dedicated the win to the memory of Timmy Post, and the Barcellos and Griffin families. The second race in July is traditionally in memory of Post.

“I saw Fred coming and told myself it was time to turn up the power,” Nelson said. “I knew there would be no pussyfooting through the turns if I wanted to win.”

As the two duked it out for the win, Gary Tucker from Delhi moved up to third with Kelly Wilkinson of Caruthers chasing him to the finish line. Mariposa’s Mark Odgers came back to finish fifth after avoiding two skirmishes.

Sunday at Merced Speedway – The IMCA Modified and SportMod classes join with the Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks and Mini Stocks for a five-division program beginning at 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Merced Speedway is located inside the Merced County Fairgrounds, 900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Merced. Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for senior citizens and $8 for children 6-12. A family four-pack of tickets admits two children and two adults for $32. Racing begins at 6 p.m. Sunday. The grandstand opens at 4:30 p.m.

This story was originally published July 24, 2015 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Parker holding his own on the track."